CARL HOPPE (Am. 1897-1981)

Carl Thomas Hoppe, born 22 August 1897 in San Antonio, TX, son of German immigrants August and Teresa Hoppe, died 15 January 1981 in San Antonio at age 83 [San Antonio Express-News, 16 January 1981]. A resident of the Alamo Heights district, his primary employment was salesman at Joske's Department Store in San Antonio [San Antonio City Directory]. In the 1920s, he married Frances Rose, but they apparently had no surviving children.

He was active as an artist in the mid 1900s through at least the 1960s. He is best known for landscapes in an impressionistic style. He signed his works with a simple "C. Hoppe" and sometimes included a brief descriptive phrase on the back of the painting or in pen & ink on a paper label with an inscription about the painting or the person to whom it was presented.

Some of his original frames appear to be home-crafted. He is reported to have studied under several more-notable Texas artists who worked in the San Antonio area, including Porfirio Salinas, Robert Wood, Jose Arpa, and Julian Onderdonk.

Upon opening an exhibit of his works at the Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum in Canyon, Texas in 1997, the museum curator stated "Hoppe's high place in the Hill Country art scene is finally being recognized by collectors and museums West Texas A&M University Communicator, Vol. 4, No. 13, 24 February 1997.